Crime Thriller Books

The best crime thriller book reviews. “Crime thriller” is a catch-all term for thriller subgenres that feature a struggle for dominance between criminals and law enforcement, such as mafia thriller, police procedural, detective fiction, true crime, serial killer fiction and others.

Standby Counsel, the The Year’s Best Legal Thriller, by Alexi Venice

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The Bottom Line: A sexy legal thriller that deftly blends an international terror plot with romantic obsession. Honored as the Best Legal Thriller of 2021. Despite having no experience in criminal defense, civil attorney Monica Spade is ordered to represent an accused murderer. The accused, a demure Romanian woman named Stela, purportedly stabbed her boyfriend 13 times before being admitted to the hospital as a possible […]

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Have You Seen Me?, The Year’s Best Horror Novel

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The Bottom Line: One of the Best Thrillers of 2021. A deliciously disturbing whodunnit filled with twists and turns that will appeal to young adults and seasoned mystery fans alike. Aubrey LeRoux has returned to Waverly Prep, her old Southern college-prep school, but this time as the new history teacher. Aubrey was prepared for an icy reception from the hardened headmistress, who has not thawed

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Strangers’ Kingdom, a Big-Hearted Police Procedural by Brandon Barrows

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The Bottom Line: A small town police procedural with a big heart and a shocking finale. Set in the early 1990s, Strangers’ Kingdom tells the story of police detective Luke Campbell’s quest for a fresh start. The former Albany cop had the city’s second-highest closure rate in the major crimes division before he shot a politician’s son in self-defense, leading to a career-threatening internal affairs

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Paraiso Lost, an Entertaining Thriller about the Power of Cult Leaders by Jack Polo

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The Bottom Line: An entertaining thriller about the power of cult leaders, and a must-read for fans of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Seventeen-year-old Charlene Dillard is a straight-A student with lush blond hair, Icelandic blue eyes and a seductive smile. According to her parents, billionaires Charles and wife Oksanna, she’s also been missing for 13 months. The teenage runaway’s status has purportedly been

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Send Me No Flowers, a Fast-Paced Police Procedural Filled with Sex, Romance and Longing

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The Bottom Line: A fast-paced Lori Daniels novel filled with steamy sex, romance and longing. In keeping with the style author Tom Preschutti established with Lover Come Back, the third series book Send Me No Flowers is a seamless continuation of its predecessor. Hardboiled police detective Lori Daniels is once again convinced that someone from her past – in this case, a high-ranking police officer

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Tangled Lies, One of the Year’s Best Romantic Suspense Thrillers

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The Bottom Line: One of the year’s best romantic suspense thrillers. Vera Moon lives in a dilapidated apartment building with her grown son Charlie, squeaking by on her social security payments and what little Charlie brings in. Her hardscrabble existence is turned on its head when she comes home and discovers their dog, Brandy, slashed, chained and left to die. Then she finds Charlie’s decapitated

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Prideful Vengeance, a Satisfying Thriller about Murder, Fashion and Romance

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The Bottom Line: Murder, fashion and romance converge in T.K. Ambers’ most satisfying romp yet. The third installment in T.K. Ambers’ Runway Dreams series finds siblings Bernie, Alex and Bell Price in San Diego for a swimwear photo shoot. The family is also trying to score backstage access to meet Antoine Lamour, an LGBTQ rock legend appearing at the local Pride festival. But like Hercule

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Clochán, a Charming Historical Thriller by Lawrence P. O’Brien

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The Bottom Line: A vivid, gut-wrenching and charming historical thriller that captures a man’s coming of age in early 19th century Ireland. Set in the years surrounding the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the novel’s early chapters follow the plight of the Neal family as they attempt to survive an armed uprising against British rule and its subsequent backlash. Wartime is not kind to the Neal

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The Reisman Case, a Highly Recommended Detective Thriller by Andrew Diamond

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The Bottom Line: A truly original detective thriller that delivers a relentless cadence of mind-blowing revelations. Highly recommended. Andrew Diamond’s second Claire Chastain mystery delivers an explosive first chapter that all but guarantees to hook all who read it. In nearly all detective fiction, first meetings between private investigators and clients are notoriously quiet affairs in which the detective for hire observes passively as the client

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Unwitting, a Gripping Medical Thriller by Deven Greene

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The Bottom Line: Terrorism, greed, genetics and politics collide in this complex and gripping thriller. In her previous Dr. Erica Rosen MD series book Unnatural, the pediatrician stumbled upon a program to develop Olympic athletes by manipulating the genes in embryonic stem cells. While that storyline reverberates in Unwitting, Erica’s focus soon becomes the investigation of a suicide bombing at San Francisco’s Oracle Park baseball

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